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Binance has formally responded to US Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) following a congressional letter in which the lawmaker cited media reports alleging the company enabled large-scale violations of US and international sanctions involving Iran. 

In an open letter published Friday, Binance rejected the claims and accused the senator of relying on what it described as false and defamatory reporting.

Binance Denies Enabling Iranian Money Laundering

Senator Blumenthal’s inquiry referenced articles published in February 2026 by The New York Times, Fortune, and The Wall Street Journal. 

Those reports, according to the senator, suggested Binance had disregarded warnings designed to prevent Iranian money laundering schemes and had allowed approximately $1.7 billion in transfers connected to Iran. 

In its response, Binance said it takes its legal and regulatory responsibilities seriously and shares the senator’s stated interest in maintaining a safe trading platform. However, the company disputed the accuracy of the reports cited in the letter, calling them demonstrably false and defamatory in several significant respects. 

Binance emphasized that it maintains strict Know Your Customer (KYC) and compliance procedures and expressly prohibits users residing in or located in Iran from accessing its platform.

The exchange also responded to claims, repeated in the senator’s letter and attributed to The Wall Street Journal, that Binance compliance had identified 2,000 accounts associated with Iranian entities despite its stated ban on Iranian users. 

Binance flatly denied making any such determination. The company said it enforces mandatory identity verification for all customers and does not knowingly onboard users with incomplete or inaccurate documentation. 

It suggested the claim may stem from its ongoing efforts to strengthen controls related to the use of virtual private networks (VPNs). The firm reiterated that any attempt to circumvent eligibility requirements through VPN usage violates its terms of service.

Employee Departures Not Linked To Iran Probe 

In addition to compliance concerns, the senator’s letter referenced media reports about the treatment of certain employees involved in the Hexa Whale and Blessed Trust investigations. 

Binance said those reports contained significant inaccuracies and rejected suggestions that employees were dismissed for escalating compliance concerns. 

While declining to disclose specific personnel details due to privacy considerations, the company acknowledged that some compliance staff and contractors have recently departed, most through voluntary resignations. 

Binance reiterated that its compliance framework is continuously evolving and strengthening. The company said that when credible risk information arises, it investigates thoroughly, removes accounts when necessary, and reports to appropriate authorities. 

With respect to the matters raised in Blumenthal’s letter, Binance argued that its compliance systems functioned as intended. The exchange pledged to continue cooperating with law enforcement and advancing what it described as its broader mission of building core infrastructure for the global crypto ecosystem.

Featured image from OpenArt, chart from TradingView.com

On-chain data shows the Bitcoin Difficulty has seen little change in the latest adjustment as a result of the recent sideways trend in the Hashrate.

Bitcoin Difficulty Has Only Seen A Change Of 0.45% In The New Adjustment

The Bitcoin “Difficulty” refers to a metric built into the blockchain that controls how hard the miners would find it to mine a block on the network right now. This indicator’s value automatically changes about every two weeks based on network conditions.

Satoshi wrote in one simple rule for the chain to follow: bring block production rate to a consistent value of 10 minutes per block. Whenever miners produce blocks in an interval faster than this, the network raises its Difficulty just enough to slow them back down to it. Similarly, BTC eases things up instead if miners are slower than expected.

The latest Difficulty adjustment has just occurred on the Bitcoin network. This event, however, didn’t lead to any notable changes in the metric, with its value going up by just 0.45%.

Below is a chart from CoinWarz that shows how the recent Difficulty adjustments have looked for the cryptocurrency.

From the graph, it’s visible that the Bitcoin Difficulty saw a huge decline two adjustments ago. The reason behind this aggressive drawdown in the indicator lied in special circumstances in the United States: the snow storm of late January.

Miners become faster or slower at their task when they change their computing power, collectively known as the network Hashrate. This metric saw a huge drop following the onset of the snow storm; miners were forced to curtail their power in order to ease pressure on the nation’s electricity grid, which was facing disruptions due to the extreme weather event. The resulting network slowdown is what forced the Difficulty decrease.

Since this event was extraordinary and lasted only shortly, it didn’t take long for the Hashrate to bounce back. Here is a chart from Blockchain.com that shows the trajectory that the 7-day average value of the indicator has followed recently:

The quick recovery in the Bitcoin Hashrate led into a Difficulty increase that corrected the earlier sharp drawdown. Since the rebound in the indicator, however, its value has taken to sideways movement, suggesting miners are neither expanding nor decommissioning.

This flat trajectory in the Hashrate is why the Difficulty also mostly remained unchanged during the latest adjustment.

BTC Price

Bitcoin broke above the $70,000 level earlier this week, but the asset has now seen a drop back below it as its price is now trading around $68,300.

Seychelles-based cryptocurrency exchange KuCoin has been ordered to halt its operations in Dubai after regulators determined the platform was operating without the required authorization. 

The action was announced Thursday by Dubai’s Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA), which stated that KuCoin does not hold a license to provide virtual asset services in or from the emirate.

Dubai Bars KuCoin From Offering Services To Residents

In its public alert, VARA said that any virtual asset-related activities conducted or promoted by the exchange in Dubai are in violation of the authority’s regulations. 

The regulator emphasized that under Dubai Law No. (4) of 2022 and UAE Cabinet Resolution No. 111/2022, all virtual asset service providers must obtain proper licensing to legally operate in the jurisdiction.

According to Dubai’s Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority, KuCoin does not meet those legal requirements and is not authorized to offer any virtual asset services to residents of Dubai.

The regulator also warned that engaging with companies that fail to comply with VARA regulations, associated rulebooks, and broader UAE legislation could expose users to significant financial harm, as well as potential legal consequences tied to regulatory or even criminal violations. 

VARA further clarified that any promotion, marketing, or solicitation connected to KuCoin has not been approved by the authority. As a result, the exchange is not permitted to advertise, promote, or offer virtual asset products or services within Dubai or to its residents.

Regulatory Scrutiny Intensifies 

The warning from Dubai comes amid broader regulatory scrutiny facing KuCoin in other regions. In Europe, Austria’s financial regulator recently restricted the exchange’s European arm from conducting new business and onboarding additional customers. 

That decision was reportedly based on concerns that the platform lacked sufficient compliance staff to meet regulatory standards, raising questions about its operational readiness and supervisory structure in the region.

European authorities have been tightening oversight of digital asset platforms as the European Union rolls out its Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) framework, which is designed to standardize crypto regulation across member states. 

Despite the recent setback involving restrictions on new business, KuCoin has also secured regulatory progress in Europe. Earlier this year, Austria’s Financial Market Authority (FMA) granted the exchange a MiCA permit, authorizing it to operate across the European Union under the bloc’s unified digital asset regime.

In a social media post on X (formerly Twitter), market expert Shanaka Anslem weighed in on the legal challenges faced by the cryptocurrency exchange, stating:

If you hold assets on any exchange that lacks explicit licensing in your jurisdiction, the VARA action is your early warning system. The next cease-and-desist might freeze withdrawals before you can act. The era of “move fast and ignore regulators” is over. The only exchanges that survive the next two years are the ones that already have the paperwork.

Featured image from DALL-E, chart from TradingView.com 

Мелкие розничные инвесторы начали активно скупать биткоин после того, как его цена опустилась ниже $70 000, свидетельствуют данные аналитической платформы Santiment. Однако блокчейн-аналитики предупреждают: судя по историческим закономерностям, стоимость криптовалюты может продолжить снижение.

Kazakhstan’s central bank will soon begin investing up to $350 million from its gold and foreign exchange reserves into cryptocurrency assets and related companies, as part of its broader digital assets strategy.

Central Bank Prepares For $350M Investment Into Crypto-Related Assets

On Friday, Reuters reported that the National Bank of Kazakhstan (NBK) has formed a portfolio of up to $350 million ​from its gold and foreign exchange reserves ‌for investment in digital assets.

As of February 1, Kazakhstan’s central bank held $69.40 billion in gold and foreign exchange reserves, while the assets of the national fund amounted to $65.23 billion, the news media outlet noted.

At a briefing on interest ​rates, the central bank governor, Timur Suleimanov, affirmed that the financial authority is developing a list of instruments to invest in, which will include crypto-related companies.

“These include shares of high-tech ​companies related to cryptocurrencies and digital financial assets, index funds and other instruments that exhibit similar ​dynamics to crypto assets,” Suleimanov explained.

Meanwhile, Central ​Bank Deputy Chair Aliya Moldabekova shared that the investments will begin between April and May. She added that there are no plans to make any large investments directly in digital assets, but in companies that deal with them.

“We are not talking about any large investment in cryptocurrencies. We are currently selecting companies that deal with digital ​assets. For ​example, those ⁠involved in cryptocurrency infrastructure. We are currently in the process ​of selecting such companies,” Moldabekova ​said.

The central bank’s initiative follows Kazakhstan’s plan to establish a national digital asset reserve fund valued between $500 million and $1 billion, primarily comprised of assets seized and repatriated from abroad.

Suleimenov announced the plans last year, emphasizing that the fund would prioritize investments in exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and shares of companies operating within the sector. He stressed that the investment strategy would be cautious, avoiding direct exposure to digital assets.

Kazakhstan Eyes Regulated Landscape

Kazakhstan’s introduction of regulations for digital financial assets could pave the way for a new financial market sector, including tokenized assets and digital assets-fiat payment channels, the central bank governor has stated.

According to local reports, Suleimenov proposed on Friday a licensing system for crypto exchanges rather than strict bans, requiring compliance with anti-money laundering (AML), counter-terrorist financing (CTF), tax, and payment regulations to boost the fintech sector and the country’s economy.

We all know that Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are quite actively used in our country, but outside the legal framework. But why fight this with the help of the Criminal Code? It is better to force crypto exchanges to obtain licenses, regulate them, require compliance with AML/CTF regulations, banking legislation, payment legislation, and tax legislation — and let them engage in this activity and do so within the legal framework.

Suleimenov informed that two banks have already begun issuing crypto-fiat cards that enable purchases using stablecoin accounts. During the payment process, the funds are automatically converted into the country’s national currency, the tenge. Additionally, the head of the National Bank mentioned that two more banks are in the process of launching similar products.

“That is, there are quite a few such projects. And I hope that we will gradually begin to transfer them from the ‘sandbox’ mode to the generally established mode as regulations appear. And we will see this as consumers every day,” he added.

The government has reportedly also been exploring the establishment of licensed crypto banks and a national exchange to foster a regulated environment for digital asset trading in Kazakhstan.

Власти Парагвая рассматривают возможность запуска государственного майнинга криптовалют с использованием оборудования, конфискованного у нелегальных майнеров.

Despite strong backing from President Donald Trump and ongoing discussions at the White House, the CLARITY Act — the Senate’s long-debated crypto market structure bill — remains stalled as political divisions persist and the midterm elections draw closer.

The legislation has been slowed by continued resistance from Senate Democrats and the banking industry, both of which have raised objections to key provisions, particularly those related to stablecoin rewards. 

Banking Committee Markup Hinges On Tillis

According to a Thursday update from journalist Eleanor Terrett of Crypto In America, one Republican senator may now hold decisive influence over the CLARITY Act’s next steps in the Senate Banking Committee. 

Terrett reported that Senator Thom Tillis of North Carolina appears to be central to resolving the ongoing dispute over stablecoin yield and reward programs.

Tillis had previously emerged as a potential holdout in January when the Senate Banking Committee was preparing to mark up the bill. Amendments introduced by Tillis sought to narrow the scope of rewards that crypto firms could offer on stablecoins. 

US-based cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase later cited those proposed changes as one of several reasons it withdrew its support for the legislation at the time, underscoring how sensitive the yield issue has become for the industry.

While the Senate Agriculture Committee approved its portion of the CLARITY Act framework in January, the Banking Committee has yet to complete its markup — a necessary step before the bill can advance further. 

Late-March CLARITY Act Markup

Terrett notes that a dramatic breakthrough between banks and crypto firms may be unlikely. Instead of a comprehensive resolution that fully satisfies both sides, the strategy now appears to focus on drafting language that represents the minimum each party can accept. 

Even if Democrats ultimately oppose the bill during the next markup session, the CLARITY Act could theoretically pass out of committee along party lines. In that scenario, however, Tillis’ support would be pivotal if no Democrats cross the aisle. His position could determine whether the legislation advances or remains stuck.

At the same time, stakeholders involved in negotiations say the focus on stablecoin rewards has “taken a lot of oxygen out of the room,” leaving other contentious areas — particularly those related to decentralized finance — sidelined.

One DeFi executive engaged in the talks suggested that Senate Democrats are now scrambling to revisit those outstanding matters. Ethics provisions are also expected to remain a point of sensitivity for some Democratic members, adding another layer of complexity to an already delicate negotiation surrounding the CLARITY Act.

As the calendar advances, timing is becoming increasingly critical. One crypto trade executive said contingency options are being considered in case the Banking Committee’s markup slips further into the year. 

Still, there is cautious optimism that meaningful progress on stablecoin yield and related provisions could be achieved within the next three weeks. If that happens, lawmakers may be able to reschedule the markup for late March.

Featured image from OpenArt, chart from TradingView.com 

Основатель криптоинвестиционной компании ZX Squared Capital CK Чжэн (CK Zheng) заявил, что цена биткоина может снизиться еще на 30% до конца года. По его мнению, крипторынок сейчас находится в наиболее глубокой фазе медвежьего цикла, который значительно усугубляется военными действиями на Ближнем Востоке.

Bitcoin is attempting to hold the $70,000 level as geopolitical tensions in the Middle East intensify, injecting fresh uncertainty into global financial markets. The asset began the week trading above $74,000 but experienced a sharp repricing as investors reacted to escalating developments around the Strait of Hormuz, a critical chokepoint for global energy supply. As the conflict appeared likely to persist, markets quickly adjusted expectations, triggering volatility across risk assets, including cryptocurrencies.

According to a recent CryptoQuant report, energy-related geopolitical shocks can act as a transmission channel for broader macroeconomic disruptions. Escalations that threaten global oil supply often reinforce inflationary pressures and increase capital costs across the financial system. These dynamics force investors to reassess monetary policy expectations, particularly regarding the trajectory of interest rates and liquidity conditions.

On Thursday, March 5, the Hormuz-related escalation triggered a sudden repricing across markets. Bitcoin, which had been trading comfortably above the $74,000 level earlier in the week, dropped sharply as the market digested the implications of a potentially prolonged conflict and its impact on the global macro environment.

Despite the volatility, Bitcoin’s internal market structure appears to be showing a degree of resilience. While macro risks are being priced across global markets and influencing Federal Reserve expectations, on-chain flows suggest that underlying demand remains active, indicating that market participants are approaching the current environment with increasingly selective capital allocation strategies.

Energy Shock Triggers ETF Outflows While On-Chain Data Shows Resilience

The report further explains that the geopolitical escalation surrounding global energy supply has triggered immediate reactions across both traditional and crypto markets. Several macro indicators illustrate the scale of the shock. Bitcoin ETFs recorded a net outflow of approximately $139.2 million on March 5, reflecting a rapid shift toward risk aversion among institutional investors. At the same time, energy markets reacted strongly: Brent crude climbed to $85.41 while WTI reached $81.01, signaling that traders are pricing in potential logistical disruptions.

The ripple effects extend beyond energy markets. US gasoline prices rose by roughly $0.27 per gallon during the week, demonstrating how quickly supply shocks pass through to consumers. Meanwhile, fertilizer prices have also begun to climb, creating a dual cost shock that threatens to pressure global food supply chains.

Despite this macro-driven liquidity drain, Bitcoin’s on-chain structure shows signs of resilience. The report highlights the Bitcoin Exchange Netflow (Total) metric as a key indicator of market liquidity. When adjusted using a 7-day moving average to filter daily noise, exchange flows remain clearly negative even amid global risk-off sentiment.

Recent daily data shows a net balance of approximately -501 BTC leaving exchanges, while weekly cumulative withdrawals reached around -6,469 BTC. This suggests that long-term holders are not seeking immediate liquidity. Instead, coins continue moving into cold storage, reducing available supply and limiting near-term selling pressure as the market navigates the broader macro shock.

Bitcoin Tests Long-Term Support After Market Repricing

The weekly chart shows Bitcoin trading near $69,700 as the market attempts to stabilize following a sharp correction from the late-2025 highs. After reaching levels above $110,000 during the peak of the rally, BTC entered a corrective phase marked by lower highs and increasing volatility. The recent decline pushed price toward the $65,000 region before buyers stepped in, producing the current rebound attempt around the $70,000 level.

Technically, Bitcoin is now positioned between several key moving averages that define the broader trend. The price is currently trading below the 50-week moving average, which sits near the $90,000 region and is now acting as dynamic resistance. Meanwhile, the 100-week moving average is positioned around the mid-$80,000 zone, reinforcing the overhead pressure that emerged after the breakdown earlier this year.

On the downside, the 200-week moving average continues to trend upward near the $58,000–$60,000 range, forming a major long-term support level for the current cycle. Historically, this moving average has served as a structural floor during major market corrections.

From a macro perspective, Bitcoin remains within a broader multi-year uptrend despite the recent drawdown. The current consolidation around $70,000 suggests the market is attempting to establish a new support base before determining whether the next move will be a deeper correction or a renewed attempt to reclaim higher levels.

Featured image from ChatGPT, chart from TradingView.com 

Сенат Флориды единогласно одобрил первый в США законопроект, регулирующий использование стейблкоинов на уровне штата. Документ должен быть подписан губернатором в течение 30 дней.

Just over 10,000 Bitcoin — out of nearly 20 million in circulation — sits in wallets actually exposed to a quantum attack.

That number comes from CoinShares, a crypto asset management firm, which found in February that only 10,230 coins are both vulnerable to quantum computing and tied to wallet addresses with publicly visible cryptographic keys.

At current prices, that amounts to close to $730 million — a sum the firm described as resembling a routine trade, not a market crisis.

A Steel Frame Takes Shape In Chicago

The finding lands at an awkward moment. This week, PsiQuantum co-founder Peter Shadbolt posted a photo to X showing the Chicago construction site where his company is building what it calls the world’s first commercially useful quantum computer.

In six days, workers had erected 500 tons of steel. The structure will house a machine capable of running 1 million qubits — a unit of quantum computing power.

Scientists say that capacity is, in theory, sufficient to crack the type of encryption protecting Bitcoin wallets.

Time to build really big quantum computers. Five hundred tons of steel up in six days. Cryoplant delivery date breathing down our neck. Grateful to the many hundreds of people locked in to this mission pic.twitter.com/eqSwsESusK

— Pete Shadbolt (@PeteShadbolt) March 5, 2026

The company raised $1 billion for the project, announced in September, with chipmaker Nvidia as a key partner.

PsiQuantum says the facility is designed to support fault-tolerant quantum computing and serve as infrastructure for next-generation AI systems.

For context, the largest quantum computer currently operating at the California Institute of Technology runs on 6,100 qubits. A jump to 1 million represents a scale that has no precedent in the field.

What Would Actually Be At Risk

Bitcoin’s encryption relies on 256-bit cryptographic keys. A preprint paper published last month put the number of qubits needed to break 2048-bit keys at around 100,000 — suggesting that a 1 million-qubit machine could, mathematically, do the job.

But experts have long noted that raw qubit count is only part of the equation. Error rates and system stability matter just as much.

Not all Bitcoin wallets face equal exposure. Coins held in addresses that have never made a transaction — known as unspent transaction outputs, or UTXOs — are considered most at risk, particularly those whose public keys have been exposed on the blockchain. Many of those wallets date back to Bitcoin’s earliest days.

Developers Are Already Working On A Fix

Bitcoin developers have been debating how to respond. One option on the table is a hard fork — a fundamental change to the network’s code — to introduce post-quantum cryptography.

A co-author of BIP-360, a proposal aimed at making Bitcoin quantum-resistant, said that the upgrade could take as long as seven years to fully implement.

PsiQuantum, for its part, has said it has no intention of using its technology to attack Bitcoin. Co-founder Terry Rudolph made that point publicly at a Bitcoin quantum summit last July.

Experts in the field say a genuine quantum threat to Bitcoin is still at least a decade away.

For now, construction continues in Chicago — 500 tons of steel and counting.

Featured image from Unsplash+/Alex Shuper, chart from TradingView

42-летний житель Вашингтона Невин Шетти (Nevin Shetty) приговорен к двум годам лишения свободы за хищение средств у бывшего работодателя. Большая часть украденных денег была потеряна после инвестиций в DeFi-протоколы и последующего краха экосистемы Terra.

Cryptocurrency exchanges are increasingly evolving beyond digital asset trading platforms, gradually becoming global venues for traditional financial derivatives. A recent CryptoQuant report highlights how this shift is accelerating as market participants from traditional finance begin to utilize crypto-native infrastructure to trade assets outside the typical cryptocurrency universe.

One of the clearest signals of this transformation is the rapid rise of perpetual futures tied to traditional assets. These instruments allow traders to gain exposure to commodities, equities, and other macro assets through crypto exchanges while benefiting from continuous, 24/7 market access. Unlike conventional financial markets that operate within fixed trading hours, crypto platforms provide uninterrupted liquidity, making them particularly attractive during periods of strong price momentum.

The trend has become especially visible during recent rallies in commodities such as gold and silver. As prices moved sharply, traders increasingly turned to crypto exchanges offering TradFi perpetual contracts to maintain exposure around the clock. This structure enables market participants to respond immediately to global developments rather than waiting for traditional markets to reopen.

According to CryptoQuant, the growth of these instruments reflects a broader structural shift in financial markets. The boundary between traditional finance and crypto-native trading infrastructure is gradually fading, with digital asset exchanges emerging as hybrid platforms capable of supporting both crypto assets and traditional financial products within a unified trading environment.

TradFi Perpetual Futures See Rapid Growth On Crypto Exchanges

The report also highlights the rapid expansion of trading activity in Binance’s TradFi perpetual futures market. Since launch, cumulative trading volume across these contracts has surpassed $130 billion, with more than 90 million trades recorded. Notably, total volume exceeded $100 billion by February 24, just two months after the product’s introduction, underscoring strong demand from traders seeking continuous exposure to traditional assets through crypto-native platforms.

Binance’s TradFi perpetual futures allow users to trade a wide range of instruments, including precious metals and major equities. Available contracts include gold, silver, palladium, and platinum, alongside stocks such as AMZN, COIN, CIRCL, HOOD, INTC, MSTR, PLTR, and TSLA. These products replicate the economic exposure of traditional derivatives while benefiting from the global accessibility and near-continuous trading environment of crypto exchanges.

Precious metals dominate activity within this segment. Daily trading volume is heavily concentrated in gold and silver contracts, which reached approximately $3.77 billion and $3.75 billion, respectively, on March 3. Trading tends to accelerate during strong price trends in metals markets. For example, record daily volumes of roughly $4 billion in gold and $7 billion in silver were observed on January 30, 2025.

High participation levels further illustrate this momentum. TradFi perpetual futures recently recorded around 4.4 million daily trades, with gold accounting for roughly 2.0 million and silver for 1.9 million transactions.

Total Crypto Market Cap Tests Key Support After Correction

The weekly chart of the total cryptocurrency market capitalization shows the market stabilizing near $2.37 trillion after experiencing a sharp correction from the late-2025 highs. Following a strong rally that pushed the total market cap close to the $4 trillion region, the broader crypto market entered a consolidation phase marked by declining momentum and increased volatility.

From a structural perspective, the recent decline has pushed the market below the 50-week moving average, a level that previously acted as dynamic support during much of the 2024–2025 expansion. The market is now attempting to stabilize around the $2.3 trillion zone, which is emerging as an important short-term support level.

Below the current price, the 100-week moving average sits near the $2.1 trillion region, while the 200-week moving average continues to trend upward around $2 trillion. These long-term averages form a significant support cluster that historically plays a key role during mid-cycle corrections.

Despite the recent pullback, the broader structure still reflects a macro uptrend that began in early 2023. The current phase appears consistent with a corrective retracement following an extended rally rather than a full structural breakdown.

If total market capitalization manages to hold above the $2.3 trillion area, the market could attempt to rebuild momentum and challenge resistance near the $2.8–$3 trillion range in the coming months.

Featured image from ChatGPT, chart from TradingView.com 

Vitalik Buterin is urging the Ethereum ecosystem to get bolder about what it builds on top of the chain—while drawing a hard line around the base layer’s core guarantees—arguing that a first-principles reset on applications, wallets, and even culture could be necessary for Ethereum’s next phase.

In a post on X, the Ethereum co-founder said “it’s healthy for us in the Ethereum world to have a more bold and open mindset,” especially on the application layer and “how we see ourselves in the world.” That openness, he argued, should not drift into ambiguity about what Ethereum’s L1 is supposed to protect.

“We should not compromise on core properties: censorship resistance, open source, privacy, security (CROPS),” Buterin wrote. “We should not have ‘open mindedness’ of the type that leaves people with no confidence of what security properties the L1 will still have one year from now.” He added that Ethereum should not backslide into questioning fundamentals like whether “light clients” should “trustlessly verify correctness of the chain.”

Where the rethink should happen, in his framing, is the interface between Ethereum and users: the application stack, its assumptions, and the social conventions that shape what builders consider “serious” work.

Ethereum AI Wallets, But With Guardrails

Buterin tied part of the shift to AI, floating a scenario where “wallets as browser extensions and mobile extensions are dead within a year?” On Farcaster, he made the point more directly: “Pretty obvious that the next iteration of wallets will heavily involve AI.”

Still, he stressed that higher-value usage can’t simply outsource trust to a model. “I would not trust an LLM with multi-million transactions or funds,” he wrote, describing what he sees as the “optimal workflow” for large transfers: “AI proposes a plan, local light client simulates it, you see the action and the simulated outcome and manually confirm it.”

The pay-off, he suggested, is that moving away from today’s dapp-heavy interaction model could reduce risk. If done “conservatively with lots of emphasis on security,” Buterin argued, removing dapp UIs “from the picture completely” could eliminate “a large number of attack vectors (for both theft and privacy).”

‘Rip Off The Suit And Tie’

Buterin pointed to privacy as a recent example of Ethereum changing its priorities at the application layer. He described last year’s “shift to thinking about privacy as a first-class consideration,” which, he argued, implies “a radically different Ethereum application stack” because “the entire stack so far has not been built around privacy.” This year, he said, that has expanded into “growing work on the networking side of privacy, both inside the EF and outside.”

He also sketched more provocative app-layer thought experiments, including whether “the rest of defi is basically just universal futures markets on top of a good decentralized oracle and letting users self-organize on top of that,” and even whether “the ideal decentralized oracle is just a SNARK over M-of-N small LLMs over zk-TLSes of some major news sites?” In his view, AI pushes “applications” away from discrete products with discrete UIs and toward a continuous space—making “build fewer apps and rely on users to self-organize around them” a pattern that could expand.

On scaling, he said Ethereum is also “rethinking from zero the role of L2s, and what kind of L2s are actually most synergistic and additive to Ethereum,” framing it as another area where past assumptions may no longer hold.

Buterin framed culture as a non-technical constraint that can quietly narrow what gets built. Referencing “the whole milady thing,” he argued the subtext is to “rip off the suit and tie,” describing a deliberately irreverent break from “respectable” postures: “Take the preconception that you are ‘respectable’, write it down on a piece of paper, crumble it up and burn it. The psychological baptism of doing this leads to the intellectual baptism of unlocking greater creativity and expanding overton windows.”

He closed his X post with a challenge to builders: stop iterating one step at a time from today’s usage patterns and instead imagine Ethereum’s application layer as if starting from a blank page. “If YOU had to write the section of the 2014 Ethereum whitepaper that talked about applications… what would you write?” he asked, urging people to “mark all path-dependence concerns down to zero” and see what new designs emerge.

At press time, ETH traded at $2,050.

The gap between how investors feel about gold and Bitcoin has rarely been this wide. Gold’s fear and greed index sat at 72 out of 100 — deep in greed territory — while the top crypto’s equivalent reading hit 18 out of 100, a level classified as extreme fear.

For macroeconomist Lyn Alden, that gap tells a story worth paying attention to.

A Contrarian Bet On Bitcoin’s Next Two To Three Years

Alden, speaking on the New Era Finance podcast this week, said that if she had to choose between the two assets for the period ahead, she’d pick Bitcoin.

“Gun to my head, if I had to say which one I think outperforms, I would say Bitcoin,” she said.

Gold has climbed hard. Bitcoin has fallen far. She sees a pendulum between the two, and right now it has swung well in gold’s favor. That, she argued, sets up a potential reversal.

Gold reached a record high of around $5,608 per ounce in January. Bitcoin, by contrast, is sitting roughly 44% below its own peak of $126,000, reached last October.

The divergence in price performance mirrors the divergence in investor mood. Alden acknowledged gold’s run but stopped short of calling it a bubble.

Sentiment around it is “somewhat euphoric,” she said, while the mood around Bitcoin has turned what she described as unfairly negative.

She was careful not to overclaim. Both assets can rise at the same time. Both can fall. She does not treat the relationship between them as fixed or predictable with certainty. But pressed to make a call, she made one.

Gold’s Strength Could Be Bitcoin’s Opportunity

The backdrop to Alden’s comments is a broader debate about which asset deserves the title of reliable store of value.

Billionaire investor Ray Dalio has come down firmly on gold’s side. Speaking publicly this week, Dalio described gold as the most established form of money and pointed to its standing as the second-largest reserve asset held by central banks worldwide.

He raised concerns about Bitcoin’s limitations around privacy and its vulnerability to quantum computing advances — a technological threat that remains years away but is drawing increasing attention as construction begins on large-scale quantum facilities.

I think Bitcoin could reach $1M by ~2030 based on current conditions and progress.

Think long-term. pic.twitter.com/6MKqrjojAP

— Brian Armstrong (@brian_armstrong) September 24, 2025

Dalio’s position and Alden’s are not entirely at odds. Neither dismissed either asset outright. The question is about which performs better over a defined window, not which survives long-term.

Related Reading: Stablecoins Pose Fresh Risk To Eurozone Lending, ECB Says

The Bank of Russia has proposed letting banks and brokerage firms obtain licenses to operate crypto exchanges.

A New Crypto Play

A report published by Interfax on March 5 states that The Central Bank of Russia (CBR) Governor Elvira Nabiullina has proposed to allow banks and brokers to obtain crypto exchange licenses via a notification process, as based on their current licenses. This statement was made at the annual meeting of lending institutions with the Central Bank.

According to Nabiullina, the proposal aims to leverage the banking sector’s infrastructure for fighting money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism and fraud in order to better protect digital assets market clients. In what appears to be a conciliatory move between regulators and digital asset’s traders, Nabiullina directly addresses some of the main concerns typically raised by TradFi when arguing against crypto assets:

We hope that your extensive banking experience in AML/CFT [anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism], as well as your experience in countering fraud, will help protect your clients in the crypto market once it is legalized.

The Crypto Proposal

The exchange permissions being notification‑based means that institutions could bolt cryptocurrency services onto existing financial licenses instead of going through a separate, standalone approval process.

Under the draft rules, crypto and stablecoins would be treated as “currency valuables”: Russians could own and trade them but using them as a domestic means of payment would remain restricted.

Regarding the risk level, Naibullina remain cautious. She clarified that there would be a temporary threshold for banks’ involvement in the asset class:

However, we would still like to limit the level of risk a bank takes in this area to one percent of capital. Let’s start by seeing how banks operate within the one percent cap, and then see whether we need to move forward.

According to the Interfax report, qualified investors may acquire crypto assets without restrictions, while non-qualified investors are limited to purchasing up to 300,000 rubles per year through a single intermediary. The proposal effectively turns banks into the primary regulated gateways for digital asset trading.

Russia’s Back-And-Forth

Since 2020, Russia has recognized digital assets as property but banned them as a means of payment. Russia flirted with a full ban in 2022 and then shifted to “regulate, don’t ban.” By 2024–2025, Russia allowed limited cross‑border use, legalized mining, and opened the market only to banks and “super qualified” investors, keeping retail, P2P, and foreign platforms in a gray zone.

A Change In The Tide

Russia has slowly but surely moved from hostility to tightly managed acceptance: the new push to license banks and brokers as cryptocurrency intermediaries is about pulling activity onshore, taxing it, preserving capital controls, and sidelining unlicensed foreign exchanges rather than outlawing crypto itself.

The central bank is pushing to finish the broader legal framework by mid‑2026, after which penalties for unlicensed intermediaries and offshore platforms that do not localize in Russia are expected to kick in.

Cover image from ChatGPT, BTCUSD chart from Tradingview

 

 

On-chain analytics firm CryptoQuant has highlighted how its Bull Score Index is deep inside the bearish territory despite the latest Bitcoin price rally.

Bitcoin Bull Score Index Has A Value Of Just 10 Right Now

In a new post on X, on-chain analytics firm CryptoQuant has discussed the latest trend in the Bull Score Index for Bitcoin. This metric basically contains information about the phase of the cycle that BTC is currently inside.

The indicator makes use of some of the most popular on-chain metrics to calculate its value. The list of the indicators covered by the Bull Score Index include the likes of MVRV Z-Score, CryptoQuant P&L Index, and Stablecoin Liquidity. In total, the metric accounts for the data of ten indicators, with its value representing the number of these that are giving a bullish signal for the BTC network right now. For example, the Bull Score Index having a value of 40 implies four of the metrics are bullish.

Now, here is the chart shared by the analytics firm that shows how the Bitcoin Bull Score Index has fluctuated over the last year and a half:

As displayed in the above graph, the Bitcoin Bull Score Index saw a spike above the 60 level back in October 2025 as the BTC price rallied to a new all-time high (ATH). This suggests that the majority of the indicators were giving a green signal.

The market unwind that followed the price surge, however, caused the Bull Score Index to plummet back into the zone below 40, corresponding to bearish conditions in the sector. By late November, the bearish signal had become so strong that the index had dropped to a value of zero.

Since then, there hasn’t been any notable improvement in the indicator, with its value consistently remaining at or below 20. This hasn’t changed after the latest rally above the $70,000 level, either, as the index is still sitting at the 10 mark, implying only one metric is currently giving a bullish signal.

“Bitcoin is still in a bear market despite the recent rally,” noted CryptoQuant. “The current move is likely just a relief rally, not the start of a new bull phase.” It now remains to be seen how much longer the Bull Score Index will remain inside the bearish zone.

In some other news, the Bitcoin network has seen its userbase reach a new height recently, as on-chain analytics firm Santiment has highlighted in an X post.

From the above chart, it’s visible that non-empty addresses on the Bitcoin network have jumped 3% over the last six months, taking their total count to a new ATH of 58.45 million.

BTC Price

Bitcoin climbed toward $74,000 on Wednesday, but the bullish momentum has cooled off since then as the asset has returned to $70,500.

The timing of the next altcoin season is one of the most debated topics in the cryptocurrency market as traders search for signs that capital could soon rotate away from Bitcoin into smaller assets. However, not every analyst believes that the next phase of the cycle will arrive soon. 

According to crypto analyst Hyland, investors may still see significant upside in the broader crypto market once Bitcoin turns bullish again, but an altcoin season might not materialize this year.

Why An Altcoin Season In 2026 May Be Unlikely

Crypto analyst Matthew Hyland, who has built a significant following on X for his crypto market takes, recently made a bold declaration: there will be no altcoin season in 2026. In his post on X, Hyland stated that there will likely be no traditional altcoin season in 2026. His reasoning is tied to how long it historically takes for altcoin dominance to recover after hitting major cycle lows.

He explained that the change from the lowest point of altcoin dominance to a full altcoin season market rally typically takes between two and three years. Based on this pattern, the most recent low in altcoin dominance likely occurred around October 2025. 

If that timeline holds, the next major altcoin season would be expected sometime between 2027 and 2028. That means that altcoins could still spend much of 2026 in a transition period where Bitcoin keeps being the dominant driving force of price action.

Even though Hyland believes the full altcoin season will not arrive this year, he pointed out that investors may still see substantial upside across the crypto market before that phase begins. Particularly, he noted that the market is currently in the max opportunity zone for long-term crypto accumulation.

AltSeason Hype At Two-Year Low

The most compelling supporting evidence of the current state of the altcoin season and Bitcoin dominance can be seen in crowd behavior. Recent data from the on-chain analytics platform Santiment shows that discussions about an altcoin season have cooled massively across social media platforms.

According to Santiment’s social trends metrics, social mentions of the term “altseason” have dropped to a two-year low. The data tracks the weekly volume of discussions about altcoin season across major social platforms over the past two years.

The chart shows that spikes in social mentions have always appeared around market peaks, when excitement about altcoin rallies is at its highest. However, this kind of sentiment trough has always acted as a contrarian buy signal. 

When the crowd stops talking about something, it often means the crowd has given up, and the price action of many altcoins is at yearly lows. That is precisely when the best buying opportunities tend to emerge. 

Despite XRP’s continued decline and its struggle to regain the $2 level, one analyst believes the asset is approaching a decisive technical zone that could determine the next rally. A chart breakdown from crypto analyst Egrag Crypto shows that if XRP reclaims key levels above the 200-week EMA, it could strengthen momentum and open the path toward $8.5.

XRP 200 EMA And $1.55 Become Immediate Battleground

The projected rally is based on XRP’s interaction with the 200-week EMA, a widely monitored indicator used to assess long-term market momentum. In his accompanying chart, XRP is attempting to move above this moving average while simultaneously approaching a horizontal resistance area around $1.55.

According to him, this zone represents the first meaningful test for bullish strength. A confirmed weekly close above both the 200 EMA and the $1.55 level would indicate that buyers are beginning to regain short-term control of the market. Such a move would signal increasing momentum on the upside and suggest that the recent downward pressure may be weakening.

Despite this potential shift, the broader technical structure remains intact. The analyst notes that XRP is still trading within a descending channel that has governed its recent price action. As long as the asset remains inside this formation, the larger trend continues to reflect a corrective phase rather than a confirmed breakout.

Because of this, reaching $1.55 signals early strength, but it does not invalidate the broader bearish structure. A sustained trend reversal would only be confirmed after a break above the channel’s upper boundary.

Break Above $2.20 Could Trigger A Rally Toward $8.5

Beyond the initial resistance test, the analyst identifies a higher confirmation level that could trigger a more aggressive bullish phase. The chart points to a weekly close above roughly $2.20 as the next structural milestone for XRP.

A move above this level would place the price beyond key resistance within the descending channel and potentially signal the beginning of a broader expansion phase. In the chart’s projection, such a breakout aligns with higher Fibonacci extension levels, with the longer-term trajectory extending toward the $8.5 region.

However, the chart also outlines a downside scenario if the $1.55 resistance fails to hold. A rejection at that level could trigger a sweep of lower liquidity areas, with the analyst pointing to $1.26 as the first potential downside target.

If weakness persists, the projection shows a deeper move toward the $0.95 to $0.85 region. This area appears on the chart as a broader support zone where price could stabilize before attempting to stage a rally.

For now, XRP’s direction hinges on its interaction with the 200 EMA and the $1.55 resistance level, which the analyst identifies as the key trigger determining whether the market builds short-term strength for a rally or continues its corrective structure.

Even with the price of XRP displaying bearish action, bullish sentiment remains strong underneath the surface. On-chain data is signaling a strong desire among investors and traders to hold on to the leading altcoin as cryptocurrency exchanges’ reserves see a sharp drop over the past few weeks.

Massive XRP Withdrawals Hit Crypto Exchanges

Amid the ongoing waning performance of the market and XRP’s price, the altcoin is undergoing a key shift in supply dynamics, which represents a crucial moment. While the price has fallen sharply, investors are steadily moving their coins away from cryptocurrency exchanges due to these unfavorable market conditions.

Ripple Bull Winkle, Lux Lions NFT founder and host of the Crypto Blitz YouTube show, has reported that a large amount of tokens continues to flow out of crypto exchanges. The continual removal of XRP from trading platforms indicates that many holders may be shifting their assets into private wallets or long-term storage rather than making them readily available for sale.

According to the expert, over 7.03 billion XRP was recorded leaving the crypto exchanges in February. This kind of significant outflow from trading platforms often signals a change in investor behavior, particularly in times of uncertain market conditions.

The data shows that over 3.38 billion XRP were withdrawn from Binance, the world’s leading cryptocurrency platform, alone. These movements can constrain market liquidity and perhaps affect future price action by lowering the amount of liquidity available on exchanges. 

When supply moves off trading platforms at this scale, Ripple Bull Winkle highlighted that this is a notable signal that accumulation is improving and selling pressure is declining. Given that the market has turned highly volatile, the shift suggests that holders are locking in position for the next major upward moves.

A Breakout In Market Volume

A recent report from Xaif Crypto, a technical analyst and trader, shows that XRP is experiencing a powerful surge in market activity. Specifically, the altcoin just made a major breakout in volume, signaling a renewed wave of interest from traders. 

Both futures and spot trading volumes have spiked sharply across the major exchanges, with liquidity flooding into the market as participants position themselves for what could be a significant move. The Futures volume recorded an upsurge of over 7% in a 24-hour period, reaching $4.85 billion. 

Meanwhile, spot volume witnessed a sharp increase of +15% within the same time frame, reaching about $1.31 billion. These massive figures in both markets indicate that fresh capital is flowing into the altcoin, and Xaif Crypto stated that “this is what acceleration looks like before it gets loud.”

At the time of writing, the price of XRP was trading at $1.39, indicating a more than 2% drop in the last 24 hours. Its trading volume has turned bearish and has sharply declined alongside its price, recording an over 44% decrease over the past day.